Reflections | Disrespecting the Chinese national anthem in Hong Kong not only lacks manners, it also provokes Beijing
Our columnist recalls how even foreign pupils at his local school in the Lion City showed basic courtesy when Majulah Singapura was played
Between then and 1949, the country had several official and unofficial anthems until March of the Volunteers, originally a song from a patriotic film released in 1935, was made the national anthem of the newly founded People’s Republic of China.
My parents have lived through several national songs in Singapore, the sequence of which represents a potted history of the Lion City. The British God Save the Kingthat played on the wireless in the first few months of their lives was replaced by Japan’s Kimigayo during the Japanese occupation (1942-45). Then it was God Save the King again, followed by God Save the Queen a few years later.
From 1959 onwards, Majulah Singapura (then the state anthem) was also heard at official functions when the island was a self-governing state. Four years later, my parents would add Negaraku to their repertoire when Singapore became part of Malaysia, ending 144 years of British rule. When Singapore became an independent republic in 1965, it was back to Majulah Singapura (by now the national anthem), and it has been so ever since.
My mother, however, has two more songs under her belt: the National Anthem of the Republic of China (still sung in Taiwan today) and March of the Volunteers, both of which she might have learned in junior school during her sojourn in China from 1947 to 1953.
In primary and secondary school, I sang Singapore’s national anthem every day, either during the flag-raising ceremony in the morning or when the flag was lowered in the evening. It was a time when form was more important than substance (perhaps it still is), and many of us weren’t properly taught the lyrics of Majulah Singapura.